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Jerry G Peers: Ten years at AORN
Jerry G Peers: Ten years at AORN
When Jerry G Peers, RN, joined the AORN staff as executive director in July 1970, she planned to stay a year. She had come to Denver to manage a staff of about 15 in rented offices in the basement of the Denver Technological Center in Englewood, Colo. She decided to stay, and ten years later, she heads astaff of 61 in the two large buildings the Association now owns in Denver. Membership has more than doubled. Led by AORN, OR nurses have come out of isolation, not only in their daily practice but also as a recognized professional group. In a recent interview, Jerry remembered her goals when she first joined the staff: to provide a more stable Headquarters staff to better serve the members and Board of Directors and to achieve professional recognition for AORN to increase membership 0 to increase educational opportunities. The 1970 Board of Directors had deliberately sought an operating room nurse for the executive director’s position. As President Betty J Thomas said, they had observed that AORN’s “longest periods of steady progress were not achieved by business- or industryoriented executives, but by professional OR nurse leaders.” And Jerry was a leader. She had been AORN president from 1963 to 1965, a Board member from 1960 to 1963, and national treasurer from 1967 until 1970. Her management experience was an important qualification, recalled Ruth Bramhall, then a Board member. “We needed someone with a
Jerry G Peers, AORN executive director. At left, she stands under the sign at the new Education Center, dedicated in December
7978.
dAORN Journal, February 1980,Vo l 3 1 , No 3
395
budgetary background who was capable of getting things on an even keel. We needed someone who could establish the solvency of the organization, then expand.” Jerry was selected because she had been national treasurer and had managed a large budget as OR supervisor at the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, Los Angeles. She had also been “in on the ground floor of AORN’s history and growth,” Ruth Bramhall added. The national offices had prepared her well. In the 196Os, being a national officer was “almost a second job,” Jerry said. Because of the small Headquartersstaff, the Board was more involved in daily functions of the organization. “We set up Association policies, helped direct finances, recruited personnel, and helped employ staff,” she said. Weekends were spent making chapter visits, attending workshops, and speaking. Leaving the OR for the AORN position was a “natural transition” for her, she said. “There’s a point in every job when it’s time to move ahead. I had accomplishedwhat I wanted to at UCLA, and I thought it was time to move on.” Making changes and moving ahead are common threads in her career. They brought her into operating room nursing originally. “I like the ability operating room nurses have to make nursing decisions, to react to the emergency needs of our patients, to be selfdirected. To work as a team is exciting and never routine,” she said. “1 also like the type of people who work in the OR. They are a different breed-people who enjoy the demands of the OR situation. They seem more aggressive and like change and variety.” A diploma graduate of Mercy Hospital, Denver, she accepted her first OR position at Oakland (Calif) Regional Hospital, where she served with the Army Nurse Corps. Then she returned to school for her baccalaureate, enrolling at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University), Cleveland. “I found that a nurse without a degree could not realisticallyaspire to high levels of responsibility,” she observed. After graduation with a medical-surgical nursing major, Jerry thought she wanted to teach and accepted a position as clinical instructor and assistant operating room super-
398
visor at the University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor. She found teaching wasn’t for her-but she liked administration. “I liked working with the people and the decision making,” she said. “It is a challenge to come up with ideas, implement them, and make them work. I was also attracted to the different asAt the 1957 Congress in Los Angeles, Jerry conducts a tour at the UCLA Center where she was then operating room supervisor. Below, as AORN president, she visits the San Jose Chapter during her term from 1963 to 1965.
AORN Journal, February 1980,Vol31, No 3
pects administration involves-nursing practice, finance and budgeting, interpersonalrelationships, and personnel.” An opening for an operating room supervisor at the Veterans Administration Hospitalin Ann Arbor opened another door. “It was an opportunity to open a brand new operating room-building it from scratch.” The greatest challenge was drawing on the expertise of nursing and medical staffs to develop OR policies and procedures. Two years later, she moved 2,000 miles to the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, which had recruitedher as OR director to open their new OR facility. Jerry first joined AORN in Los Angeles, helping to plan the 1957 AORN Congress held there. She quickly became involved in national activities and was elected to the national Board in 1960. When she became executive director in 1970, the Association had just moved to Denver, coming from New York City the previous November after a nationwide searcli for a new home. As president and treasurer, Jerry had participated in the move. “As we grew more sophisticated, we realized we needed a central location with established offices and personnel,” she explained. A site visit by a committee had determined that Denver best met the criteria of an adequate labor pool, a reason-
able cost of living, good public transportation, and a central location. In a decade of leadership, Jerry has accomplished her goals. Membership has more than doubled, from 12,918 in December 1970 to 28,485 in November 1979. And there are almost three times as many chapters: 98 then and 284 now. There are chapters in every state as well as Puerto Rico, Jamaica/West Indies, Guam, the Philippines, and Lebanon. The staff has grown from 15 to 61, and physical facilities have grown with it. Jerry has guided the building of the main Headquarters building, completed in 1973, and the new Jerry G Peers Education Center, dedicated in December 1978 and officially named at the 1979 Congress in St Louis. Expansion of services to meet the needs of a growing membership is the reason for the larger staff and physical plant. Continuing education for operating room nurses has always been the Association’s first objective. In 1970, regional institutes and the annual Congress were the two education projects. Only one nurse educator was on the staff full time. Now there is a staff of 17 in the AORN Education Department. Carol J Alexander, RN, has been the director since 1971. The CE calendar today is filled with local and national offerings. In 1979, AORN presented 32 national seminars, including four special certification seminars to help nurses prepare for this new program. With the opening of the Education Center, AORN began offering oneand two-week courses at Headquarters. The Education staff also arranges the education sessions at Congress. OR continuing education became worldwide in 1978, with the First World Conference of Operating Room Nurses in August in Manila, the Philippines. More than 1,100 nurses from 35 countries attended. The Association’s first foreign venture was in 1970, when Membership Director Caroline Rogers, RN, led the first International Symposium to Italy for 267 AORN members. Other educational services have been added to the Association’s program: operating room consultation for hospitals 0 a certification program and examination for OR nurses an approval process for continuing education
dAORN Journal, February 1980,Vol31, No 3
399
Carol J Alexander, RN, director of education. At right, students listen to a speaker on the lawn of the Education Center during the first OR management course, offered in June 1979. 0 education publications. AORN’s library, a major resource in operating room nursing, “has grown remarkably,” Jerry said. Started with part-time librarians in 1972, the library is now staffed full time by a master’s prepared librarian. The major event of the year, of course, is Congress, which has grown in size and reputation. Statistics tell part of the story. Registration of 3,004 nurses in 1970 grew to 5,201 in 1979. Delegates, who numbered 41 1 in 1970,totaled 1,058 in 1979, reflecting the membership increase over the decade. Technical and scientific exhibits at Congress make it one of the largest health care shows in the country-so large that Congress can now be held only in the three or four cities with large enough facilities. Growing an average of 10% a year, the number of booths and exhibit floor space has more than doubled since 1970. During Jerry’s tenure, Congress arrangements have been brought under AORN’s own roof. In 1970, planning was done by an outside convention service. The Association now has its own professional convention planning staff,
402
along with a computer and computer staff that process registration and hotel reservations for nurses and exhibitors and perform other record keeping. AORN staff has made all Congress arrangements since 1973, under the direction of Michael D Corley, who joined the staff in 1971 and was promoted in 1978 to assistant executive directoribusiness. The stability Jerry has brought to Headquarters is evidenced in the long tenure of the department managers. Three managers have been here longer than Jerry: Donna Krowen, accounting manager; Philip J Patterson, general manager of publications; and Caroline Rogers, membership director. Mickey Meyer, executive secretary to Jerry, came to AORN in 1969. She first worked in the Congress Department. Donna Krowen was hired before the move to Denver, traveling to New York for her orientation in November 1969. Beginning with a staff of one in 1970, she now supervises four. The Accounting Department handles the daily financial matters of AORN and processes registration fees, exhibit rents, and publication and
AORN Journal, February 1980, V o l 3 1 , No 3
At the First World Conference in Manila, the Philippines, in 1978 (top). From left, Consuelo G Arabit, president of the Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines, Philippine President and Prime Minister Ferdinand E Marcos, AORN President Jean Davis, Henedina P Suanes, president of the Philippine Nurses Association, and Jerry Peers. At bottom, American nurses on the first International Symposium to Italy in 1970. International Symposiums are planned and led by Caroline Rogers, RN, director of membership.
dAORN Journal, February 1980,Val 31, No 3
403
Judith I Pfister, RN, assistant Michael D Corley, assistant executive executive directorlprofessional. directoribusiness.
jewelry sales for Congress. Under Phil Patterson, the AORN Journal Department functions like a publishing house. Since he joined the staff in December 1969,20 volumes of the Journal have been printed. Then there was one editor and a secretary. Now a staff of 12 sales, production, and editorial personnel produces 13 issues per year, averaging 200 pages each, with color and quality that rival any other journal in nursing. Caroline Rogers also joined the staff in 1969 before the move. An OR nurse, she had served on the Board and waschairman of the National Membership Committee. She found a staff of temporary workers and a confused manual filing system. “We didn’t even know how many members we had,” she said. She reorganized the record keeping system and planned for transfer of the files to computer in 1970. In addition to developing the international symposiums, she has designed a yearly schedule of leadership seminars for chapters. She also serves as the Association’s parliamentarian. The newest manager is Judith Pfister, RN, who joined the staff in 1979 as assistant executive directoriprofessional. Under Jerry’s leadership, the Association has grown in every way-in membership, in services, and in physical plant and staff. But most important, it has grown in its vision of OR nursing. Others have seen operating room
406
nurses as isolated, task-oriented, and lacking in patient contact. At times, OR nurses have even seen themselves that way. But Jerry never has. She sees OR nursing as “one of the most responsible areas because the patient is totally dependent on the people in his environment for protection, safety, and an effort to return to wellness. The surgeon is intimately involved with the operative procedure. The anesthesiologist is involved with anesthetizing the patient.That leaves the professionalnurse as the available person to protect the patient.” Her belief that OR nursing should be patient-centeredwas foremost while she was operating room supervisor at UCLA during the 15 years before she became executive director. Gloria Carugati, her assistant OR supervisor and now a staff nurse at Northridge (Calif) Hospital, remembered Jerry as a “terrific” supervisor. Patients were treated as persons, not cases. “Jerry promoted TLC,” she said, “by addressing patients and never forgetting they were in the room.” In 1968, Jerry was the first nurse to receive the UCLA Golden Bruin Award, presented by the UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary in recognition of her “humanized approach to the patient.” Jerry’s personal approach to patient care came with her to AORN. Today it is more than one nurse’s belief. It is the professional goal for the specialty-the perioperative role,
AORN Journal, February 1980,Vol31, No 3
Donna Krowen, accounting manager, and Philip J Patterson, generalmanager of publications. grounded in nursing theory and the nursing process. As AORN president, Jerry wrote about her concern for the image of OR nursing and its removal from the basic nursing curriculum in the July-August 1974 issue of Surgical World. What others criticized, she saw as positive. What others viewed as isolation, she saw as specialization and a sense of being part of a team, with its own closeness and sense of identity. She wrote that AORN and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) were seeking a closer working relationship that “is really just an extension of our daily team effort in the operating room.” She became the first AORN liaison to the ACS Committee on Operating Room Environment when William C Beck, MD, was chairman. The image of OR nurses with surgeons has grown “tremendously” due to Jerry’s appearance on panels and papers she has written, he said. “Her cooperation not only has won the admiration of ACS but has particularly won my admiration,” Dr Beck said. “She thinks so clearly, she has helped us get many mutual arrangements started. No one else has given operating room nursing greater stature. Even though she has not always agreed with surgeons, she has always given them something to think about.” In May 1979, the two organizations sponsored their first joint symposium on the operating room environment, attended by teams of nurses and surgeons from the same hospitals. As executive director, Jerry has also worked
to strengthen AORN’s ties with other nursing organizations. The Association has become one of the leaders in the Federation of Specialty Nursing Organizations and ANA (American Nurses’ Association), and its opinion is sought on national nursing issues. The accomplishments are impressive, but Jerry believes there is more to be done. She has her eye on some trends in OR nursing, and “I’m not sure I like what I see,” she said. “I’m concerned about the shortage of nurses in all areas and the impact on OR nursing. I’m concerned about nurses acting as first assistants to the surgeons and the effect on the OR nursing supply. “It would distress me to see activities that required professional nursing expertise turned over to less qualified personnel,” she continued. “And I see the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s efforts to change the regulations to permit technicians to circulate as distancing nursing from patients. That, to me, has a direct potential for less than professional care being given to the patient. If this trend continues, the day may come when there are no professional nurses in the OR. I think that would be a disaster.” The underlying goal is nurturing a new generation of professional OR nurses. One of Jerry’s main concerns has been elimination of OR experience from the basic nursing curriculum. The effort to convince educators of the importance of that experience continues. In 1978, AORN published a core curriculum on operating room nursing, appropriate for the generic
d+ AORN Journal, February 1980, V o l 3 1 , No 3
407
curriculum. Deans’ conferences in 1979 and 1980 are a direct attempt to get the message across to administrators of nursing schools. The National Committee on Education is developing guidelines to assist chapters who want to promote the OR experience with their local schools. For many members, especially those who have grown up with the Association, Jerry personifies AORN. To them, she is AORN. They have shared many years of friendship with her. They have traveled together on the international symposiums. They have reunited at Congress each year. When they have problems, they write or call her; when they have successes, they get in touch with her. And she responds. They are friends. Those she has worked with on the Board share this feeling. At Congress last year, when Past-president Nancy Ertl surprised Jerry with the announcement that the new Education Center would be named for her, she referred to Jerry as “executive director, friend, helpmate, teacher, and supporter.” Much of Jerry’s life centers around AORN. Her home is a high-rise condominium within
sight of Headquarters. She enjoys traveling, either for AORN or with her brother and sisterin-law, Gene and Helyn Wikstrand, who live nearby. Traveling in the Southwest, she has acquired an impressive collection of Indian jewelry. More than one Board member has gone home with a touch of Indian jewelry “fever” and at least a turquoise ring. In her free time, she enjoys reading and has done some painting. Like many Denverites, she is enthusiastic about the Broncos, and the Monday morning Headquarters meeting often includes a brief “quarterback” session of the weekend game. But if you ask Jerry what is most important in her life, she will probably respond, AORN-the Board, the Headquarters staff, the members. Nancy Ertl put it well last year. “The growth and success of AORN testify to her dedication and ability. No one in AORN’s history has done more for our organization.”
Many members have shared years of friendship with Jerry. Among them are the Golden Gavel Club ofpast officers and Board members, pictured here at the 1978 Congress. At left, Jerry is with Ruth Metzger and Martha Parlapiano at the 1973 Congress. Both are past-presidents.
410
AORN Journal, February 1980, Vol31, N o 3
When Jerry G Peers, RN, joined the AORN staff as executive director in July 1970, she planned to stay a year. She had come to Denver to manage a staff of about 15 in rented offices in the basement of the Denver Technological Center in Englewood, Colo. She decided to stay, and ten years later, she heads astaff of 61 in the two large buildings the Association now owns in Denver. Membership has more than doubled. Led by AORN, OR nurses have come out of isolation, not only in their daily practice but also as a recognized professional group. In a recent interview, Jerry remembered her goals when she first joined the staff: to provide a more stable Headquarters staff to better serve the members and Board of Directors and to achieve professional recognition for AORN to increase membership 0 to increase educational opportunities. The 1970 Board of Directors had deliberately sought an operating room nurse for the executive director’s position. As President Betty J Thomas said, they had observed that AORN’s “longest periods of steady progress were not achieved by business- or industryoriented executives, but by professional OR nurse leaders.” And Jerry was a leader. She had been AORN president from 1963 to 1965, a Board member from 1960 to 1963, and national treasurer from 1967 until 1970. Her management experience was an important qualification, recalled Ruth Bramhall, then a Board member. “We needed someone with a
Jerry G Peers, AORN executive director. At left, she stands under the sign at the new Education Center, dedicated in December
7978.
dAORN Journal, February 1980,Vo l 3 1 , No 3
395
budgetary background who was capable of getting things on an even keel. We needed someone who could establish the solvency of the organization, then expand.” Jerry was selected because she had been national treasurer and had managed a large budget as OR supervisor at the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, Los Angeles. She had also been “in on the ground floor of AORN’s history and growth,” Ruth Bramhall added. The national offices had prepared her well. In the 196Os, being a national officer was “almost a second job,” Jerry said. Because of the small Headquartersstaff, the Board was more involved in daily functions of the organization. “We set up Association policies, helped direct finances, recruited personnel, and helped employ staff,” she said. Weekends were spent making chapter visits, attending workshops, and speaking. Leaving the OR for the AORN position was a “natural transition” for her, she said. “There’s a point in every job when it’s time to move ahead. I had accomplishedwhat I wanted to at UCLA, and I thought it was time to move on.” Making changes and moving ahead are common threads in her career. They brought her into operating room nursing originally. “I like the ability operating room nurses have to make nursing decisions, to react to the emergency needs of our patients, to be selfdirected. To work as a team is exciting and never routine,” she said. “1 also like the type of people who work in the OR. They are a different breed-people who enjoy the demands of the OR situation. They seem more aggressive and like change and variety.” A diploma graduate of Mercy Hospital, Denver, she accepted her first OR position at Oakland (Calif) Regional Hospital, where she served with the Army Nurse Corps. Then she returned to school for her baccalaureate, enrolling at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University), Cleveland. “I found that a nurse without a degree could not realisticallyaspire to high levels of responsibility,” she observed. After graduation with a medical-surgical nursing major, Jerry thought she wanted to teach and accepted a position as clinical instructor and assistant operating room super-
398
visor at the University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor. She found teaching wasn’t for her-but she liked administration. “I liked working with the people and the decision making,” she said. “It is a challenge to come up with ideas, implement them, and make them work. I was also attracted to the different asAt the 1957 Congress in Los Angeles, Jerry conducts a tour at the UCLA Center where she was then operating room supervisor. Below, as AORN president, she visits the San Jose Chapter during her term from 1963 to 1965.
AORN Journal, February 1980,Vol31, No 3
pects administration involves-nursing practice, finance and budgeting, interpersonalrelationships, and personnel.” An opening for an operating room supervisor at the Veterans Administration Hospitalin Ann Arbor opened another door. “It was an opportunity to open a brand new operating room-building it from scratch.” The greatest challenge was drawing on the expertise of nursing and medical staffs to develop OR policies and procedures. Two years later, she moved 2,000 miles to the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, which had recruitedher as OR director to open their new OR facility. Jerry first joined AORN in Los Angeles, helping to plan the 1957 AORN Congress held there. She quickly became involved in national activities and was elected to the national Board in 1960. When she became executive director in 1970, the Association had just moved to Denver, coming from New York City the previous November after a nationwide searcli for a new home. As president and treasurer, Jerry had participated in the move. “As we grew more sophisticated, we realized we needed a central location with established offices and personnel,” she explained. A site visit by a committee had determined that Denver best met the criteria of an adequate labor pool, a reason-
able cost of living, good public transportation, and a central location. In a decade of leadership, Jerry has accomplished her goals. Membership has more than doubled, from 12,918 in December 1970 to 28,485 in November 1979. And there are almost three times as many chapters: 98 then and 284 now. There are chapters in every state as well as Puerto Rico, Jamaica/West Indies, Guam, the Philippines, and Lebanon. The staff has grown from 15 to 61, and physical facilities have grown with it. Jerry has guided the building of the main Headquarters building, completed in 1973, and the new Jerry G Peers Education Center, dedicated in December 1978 and officially named at the 1979 Congress in St Louis. Expansion of services to meet the needs of a growing membership is the reason for the larger staff and physical plant. Continuing education for operating room nurses has always been the Association’s first objective. In 1970, regional institutes and the annual Congress were the two education projects. Only one nurse educator was on the staff full time. Now there is a staff of 17 in the AORN Education Department. Carol J Alexander, RN, has been the director since 1971. The CE calendar today is filled with local and national offerings. In 1979, AORN presented 32 national seminars, including four special certification seminars to help nurses prepare for this new program. With the opening of the Education Center, AORN began offering oneand two-week courses at Headquarters. The Education staff also arranges the education sessions at Congress. OR continuing education became worldwide in 1978, with the First World Conference of Operating Room Nurses in August in Manila, the Philippines. More than 1,100 nurses from 35 countries attended. The Association’s first foreign venture was in 1970, when Membership Director Caroline Rogers, RN, led the first International Symposium to Italy for 267 AORN members. Other educational services have been added to the Association’s program: operating room consultation for hospitals 0 a certification program and examination for OR nurses an approval process for continuing education
dAORN Journal, February 1980,Vol31, No 3
399
Carol J Alexander, RN, director of education. At right, students listen to a speaker on the lawn of the Education Center during the first OR management course, offered in June 1979. 0 education publications. AORN’s library, a major resource in operating room nursing, “has grown remarkably,” Jerry said. Started with part-time librarians in 1972, the library is now staffed full time by a master’s prepared librarian. The major event of the year, of course, is Congress, which has grown in size and reputation. Statistics tell part of the story. Registration of 3,004 nurses in 1970 grew to 5,201 in 1979. Delegates, who numbered 41 1 in 1970,totaled 1,058 in 1979, reflecting the membership increase over the decade. Technical and scientific exhibits at Congress make it one of the largest health care shows in the country-so large that Congress can now be held only in the three or four cities with large enough facilities. Growing an average of 10% a year, the number of booths and exhibit floor space has more than doubled since 1970. During Jerry’s tenure, Congress arrangements have been brought under AORN’s own roof. In 1970, planning was done by an outside convention service. The Association now has its own professional convention planning staff,
402
along with a computer and computer staff that process registration and hotel reservations for nurses and exhibitors and perform other record keeping. AORN staff has made all Congress arrangements since 1973, under the direction of Michael D Corley, who joined the staff in 1971 and was promoted in 1978 to assistant executive directoribusiness. The stability Jerry has brought to Headquarters is evidenced in the long tenure of the department managers. Three managers have been here longer than Jerry: Donna Krowen, accounting manager; Philip J Patterson, general manager of publications; and Caroline Rogers, membership director. Mickey Meyer, executive secretary to Jerry, came to AORN in 1969. She first worked in the Congress Department. Donna Krowen was hired before the move to Denver, traveling to New York for her orientation in November 1969. Beginning with a staff of one in 1970, she now supervises four. The Accounting Department handles the daily financial matters of AORN and processes registration fees, exhibit rents, and publication and
AORN Journal, February 1980, V o l 3 1 , No 3
At the First World Conference in Manila, the Philippines, in 1978 (top). From left, Consuelo G Arabit, president of the Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines, Philippine President and Prime Minister Ferdinand E Marcos, AORN President Jean Davis, Henedina P Suanes, president of the Philippine Nurses Association, and Jerry Peers. At bottom, American nurses on the first International Symposium to Italy in 1970. International Symposiums are planned and led by Caroline Rogers, RN, director of membership.
dAORN Journal, February 1980,Val 31, No 3
403
Judith I Pfister, RN, assistant Michael D Corley, assistant executive executive directorlprofessional. directoribusiness.
jewelry sales for Congress. Under Phil Patterson, the AORN Journal Department functions like a publishing house. Since he joined the staff in December 1969,20 volumes of the Journal have been printed. Then there was one editor and a secretary. Now a staff of 12 sales, production, and editorial personnel produces 13 issues per year, averaging 200 pages each, with color and quality that rival any other journal in nursing. Caroline Rogers also joined the staff in 1969 before the move. An OR nurse, she had served on the Board and waschairman of the National Membership Committee. She found a staff of temporary workers and a confused manual filing system. “We didn’t even know how many members we had,” she said. She reorganized the record keeping system and planned for transfer of the files to computer in 1970. In addition to developing the international symposiums, she has designed a yearly schedule of leadership seminars for chapters. She also serves as the Association’s parliamentarian. The newest manager is Judith Pfister, RN, who joined the staff in 1979 as assistant executive directoriprofessional. Under Jerry’s leadership, the Association has grown in every way-in membership, in services, and in physical plant and staff. But most important, it has grown in its vision of OR nursing. Others have seen operating room
406
nurses as isolated, task-oriented, and lacking in patient contact. At times, OR nurses have even seen themselves that way. But Jerry never has. She sees OR nursing as “one of the most responsible areas because the patient is totally dependent on the people in his environment for protection, safety, and an effort to return to wellness. The surgeon is intimately involved with the operative procedure. The anesthesiologist is involved with anesthetizing the patient.That leaves the professionalnurse as the available person to protect the patient.” Her belief that OR nursing should be patient-centeredwas foremost while she was operating room supervisor at UCLA during the 15 years before she became executive director. Gloria Carugati, her assistant OR supervisor and now a staff nurse at Northridge (Calif) Hospital, remembered Jerry as a “terrific” supervisor. Patients were treated as persons, not cases. “Jerry promoted TLC,” she said, “by addressing patients and never forgetting they were in the room.” In 1968, Jerry was the first nurse to receive the UCLA Golden Bruin Award, presented by the UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary in recognition of her “humanized approach to the patient.” Jerry’s personal approach to patient care came with her to AORN. Today it is more than one nurse’s belief. It is the professional goal for the specialty-the perioperative role,
AORN Journal, February 1980,Vol31, No 3
Donna Krowen, accounting manager, and Philip J Patterson, generalmanager of publications. grounded in nursing theory and the nursing process. As AORN president, Jerry wrote about her concern for the image of OR nursing and its removal from the basic nursing curriculum in the July-August 1974 issue of Surgical World. What others criticized, she saw as positive. What others viewed as isolation, she saw as specialization and a sense of being part of a team, with its own closeness and sense of identity. She wrote that AORN and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) were seeking a closer working relationship that “is really just an extension of our daily team effort in the operating room.” She became the first AORN liaison to the ACS Committee on Operating Room Environment when William C Beck, MD, was chairman. The image of OR nurses with surgeons has grown “tremendously” due to Jerry’s appearance on panels and papers she has written, he said. “Her cooperation not only has won the admiration of ACS but has particularly won my admiration,” Dr Beck said. “She thinks so clearly, she has helped us get many mutual arrangements started. No one else has given operating room nursing greater stature. Even though she has not always agreed with surgeons, she has always given them something to think about.” In May 1979, the two organizations sponsored their first joint symposium on the operating room environment, attended by teams of nurses and surgeons from the same hospitals. As executive director, Jerry has also worked
to strengthen AORN’s ties with other nursing organizations. The Association has become one of the leaders in the Federation of Specialty Nursing Organizations and ANA (American Nurses’ Association), and its opinion is sought on national nursing issues. The accomplishments are impressive, but Jerry believes there is more to be done. She has her eye on some trends in OR nursing, and “I’m not sure I like what I see,” she said. “I’m concerned about the shortage of nurses in all areas and the impact on OR nursing. I’m concerned about nurses acting as first assistants to the surgeons and the effect on the OR nursing supply. “It would distress me to see activities that required professional nursing expertise turned over to less qualified personnel,” she continued. “And I see the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s efforts to change the regulations to permit technicians to circulate as distancing nursing from patients. That, to me, has a direct potential for less than professional care being given to the patient. If this trend continues, the day may come when there are no professional nurses in the OR. I think that would be a disaster.” The underlying goal is nurturing a new generation of professional OR nurses. One of Jerry’s main concerns has been elimination of OR experience from the basic nursing curriculum. The effort to convince educators of the importance of that experience continues. In 1978, AORN published a core curriculum on operating room nursing, appropriate for the generic
d+ AORN Journal, February 1980, V o l 3 1 , No 3
407
curriculum. Deans’ conferences in 1979 and 1980 are a direct attempt to get the message across to administrators of nursing schools. The National Committee on Education is developing guidelines to assist chapters who want to promote the OR experience with their local schools. For many members, especially those who have grown up with the Association, Jerry personifies AORN. To them, she is AORN. They have shared many years of friendship with her. They have traveled together on the international symposiums. They have reunited at Congress each year. When they have problems, they write or call her; when they have successes, they get in touch with her. And she responds. They are friends. Those she has worked with on the Board share this feeling. At Congress last year, when Past-president Nancy Ertl surprised Jerry with the announcement that the new Education Center would be named for her, she referred to Jerry as “executive director, friend, helpmate, teacher, and supporter.” Much of Jerry’s life centers around AORN. Her home is a high-rise condominium within
sight of Headquarters. She enjoys traveling, either for AORN or with her brother and sisterin-law, Gene and Helyn Wikstrand, who live nearby. Traveling in the Southwest, she has acquired an impressive collection of Indian jewelry. More than one Board member has gone home with a touch of Indian jewelry “fever” and at least a turquoise ring. In her free time, she enjoys reading and has done some painting. Like many Denverites, she is enthusiastic about the Broncos, and the Monday morning Headquarters meeting often includes a brief “quarterback” session of the weekend game. But if you ask Jerry what is most important in her life, she will probably respond, AORN-the Board, the Headquarters staff, the members. Nancy Ertl put it well last year. “The growth and success of AORN testify to her dedication and ability. No one in AORN’s history has done more for our organization.”
Many members have shared years of friendship with Jerry. Among them are the Golden Gavel Club ofpast officers and Board members, pictured here at the 1978 Congress. At left, Jerry is with Ruth Metzger and Martha Parlapiano at the 1973 Congress. Both are past-presidents.
410
AORN Journal, February 1980, Vol31, N o 3